So I started reading the power of now with no practice of being present before I started reading, and in a few days I feel my whole life has changed and I cant tell if this is real or not or whats going.

After reading a few chapters at night, the next morning I concentrated on becoming completely present 100%. About 2 hours later on my bus to school, this deep feeling of pure bliss surfaced and the word that popped into my head was "peaceful", I felt amazing! I can't believe I generated this feeling from inside myself, no external sources.

Then a few days later I spent the morning focusing on being 100% present, and then after a few hours the same feeling of joy rushed over me, but this time it was so intense I couldnt stop laughing with happiness! I have done marajuwana a year ago before and remember getting really high, but this feeling of being present surpassed how great I felt when I was on drugs. To me this doesn't seem possible but it happened.

Then I spent the rest of the day focusing on the now and when I went for a walk outside everything seems 3d? I feel like it is popping out at me, and colours are so much more vibrant, I started noticing more and I found everything seems so beautiful. I feel like my eyes have finally been opened and I have found my journey to happiness.

The only thing is, this all seems so surreal! and everyone else around me even people who have read his books don't feel what I am feeling?! Whats going on am I subject to a placebo effect or is this reality? I am literally lost for words right now, can someone tell me whats going on ?!?! Thanks.

There are positive effects to be discovered and I believe you are experiencing them, another man/writer/speaker called Adyashanti compares them to a honeymoon. If it is a temporary thing you are experiencing, then try not to be too desperate to get them back once they fade or change. Who can tell how they will last or change for you, I can't anyway. There is more than a little happiness/beauty where this comes from.

The other day I was out in an area watching birds, they are called Kite, a bird of prey. Basically they can fly or glide very slowly and sometimes when they find the right wind condition they just hang there completely still in the air. As I was very interested I watched them for some time and then the intensity of the colors came and nature was very beautiful, the trees swayed in a peaceful manner and I felt drawn into the beauty of it. I could feel the change in the body too.

Surreal is not the word I would use, rather I would suggest you let this experience reveal to you what it is all about, if you can have the calm to let it do it's thing.

Melontank wrote:So I started reading the power of now with no practice of being present before I started reading, and in a few days I feel my whole life has changed and I cant tell if this is real or not or whats going.

It's the momentum of insight. Recognition was born. It's likely however, that the old programming will return. Now however, you have a choice. You have seen life from a greater point of view. Will you cultivate it in favor of ever more clarity? Or just return to the existing thought structures? You're an explorer at heart, but fear can hold you back. You get to choose. Oh, and not choosing is the unconscious choice.

It was like that for me. Just crept up on me. I didn't even read the book, just listened to a bunch of youtube videos, and tried presence and no thoughts, and started seeing and hearing everything differently. Also, it has remained for over a month now. I do shore it up by reading, practicing, and listening to youtube videos, but I think I've come too far to lose this easily now. I can hardly even provoke anxiety in myself anymore.
Perhaps you were just ready. I have been making an effort to live a sort of simple life for some time now. I spend time doing yoga, running, reading, drawing, and writing, with no TV or games. I work helping elderly and disabled people and I stopped eating meat. I also made peace with some people in my family who had been angry with me for some time. I think I was ready for something like this.
I've continued practicing. This has also gotten in the way of my writing a little, since I put the writing on hold to practice this. But I think I will get back to it, and it will be better. The writing I have tried has been terrific. Most things I've tried have been better, and I've found I can solve problems more effectively without all that mind garbage in the way.
I feel fabulous. I can bring myself into this state every day, and I get moments of intense awe and spasms of ecstacy at times. Yet I function just fine in the world when I need to--better, in many cases, because I'm even more compassionate and caring than before. When no one is looking, I literally go around with my jaw hanging open with amazement at it all. It just feels good to be able to admit that here. I think you're doing fine and just keep practicing, go deeper to intensify your practice, and let go of resistance--there is nothing to fear. Everything is as it should be.